Victory Daily Devotional

DON’T GIVE UP LUKE 18: 1-8 DEVOTIONAL: “Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart” (Vs. 1).    Some people need to know that, if they are not willing to abide with God to the end, starting with Him in the first place will not worth it (Matt. 10:28). When you see people getting results from God, know that such people have put their lives at stake for the gospel. 

PRAYING WITH A VOW   1 SAMUEL 1:8-12 DEVOTIONAL “Then she made a vow and said, "O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head” (Vs. 11).    Praying with a vow is a catalyst to our prayers being answered. This is because, God has needs as much as we have needs. God is in need of men and women who will help Him to carry out His plan on earth (John 4:23). He needs people who will allow Him to use them to touch other people’s lives so as to perfect His will (Ezekiel 22:30).

FERVENT PRAYERS James 5:13-18 DEVOTIONAL: “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (Vs. 16).   If God will always answer our prayers, then we must also understand the place of fervency in prayers. To be fervent is to be strongly focused on God and stay connected to the purpose of our prayers. It is displaying a passionate intensity on our prayer lives. For us to be fervent in our prayer lives, we must learn to go to God with a purpose and determined heart to receive from Him. When we connect with God in the attitude of faith, He would be attracted to us. 

LOOKING UNTO JESUS Hebrews 12:1-2 Devotional: “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Vs. 2).      Many people pray to God, yet they cannot see Him. Do you know that seeing is believing? For example, if you don’t see a chair, you will not attempt to sit on it. This can be applied also to praying to God whom you cannot see. This can mean that you are doing something you are not sure of. You can’t see God as you pray and not receive an answer from Him.

NOT OFFENDED LUKE 7:18-30 DEVOTIONAL: “And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me." (Vs. 23)    It is reality today to say that many supposed Christians are already feeling offended by God. On Sunday morning, if you go out when people are in churches, you will discover that many Jeremiahs and Joshuas are at home because they have stopped going to church. Though, they were born in the church, they have stopped attending church services because they are angry with God.

PURSUE PEACE PSALMS 34: 8-18  DEVOTIONAL: “Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it” (V. 14)      The word of God is very clear about what could hinder prayers from being answered. That is why it is important that we don't relate with God seldom but regularly. One of the factors that can hinder prayers is lack of peace with people. This is not relating freely with people. It will therefore be wisdom to learn to freely relate with people.

PRAYER AND FASTING MATTHEW 17:14-21 DEVOTIONAL: “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting" (Vs. 21)      It is very important as a child of God, that you understand the power of prayer and fasting. Religiously, people always mistake fasting for power and it is not. They are only part of the manifestation of the power of God. Fasting is an act of separating oneself to seek God. This separation could be from the public, one’s regular business or from food which is the most common. 

HEART TO HEART 1 SAMUEL 1:12-18 DEVOTIONAL:- “But Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD” (Vs. 15)      It is important for us to understand that God hears the voice of our hearts more than the voice of our mouths. When some people pray, they just make noise. God told Samuel that He looked at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). So, as we pray, we must let our prayers come from our hearts and not just from our lips (Matt. 15:8). This is because God listens to our hearts.

THE PREPARATION OF THE HEART PROVERBS 16:1-7 DEVOTIONAL: “The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD” (Vs. 1).    It is often said that proper preparation prevents poor performance. God has given the task of the preparation of the heart to man before we will expect God to give us result. This is simply our part in His divine plan (Hebrews 11:40). So, if we want to have our prayers answered, we must prepare our hearts for it. Remember, God listens to the voice of our hearts more than He listens to the voice of our mouths (1 Samuel 16:7)

A CONSECRATED HEART PROVERBS 23:22-26 DEVOTIONAL: “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways” (Vs.26)      The state of our hearts is very important whenever we want to ask for anything in prayers and receive from God. The state of people’s heart is the reason they cannot receive from God. Our heart determines our motives and intentions. There is always an intention for asking in prayers. When our intention is wrong, then the prayer cannot be answered. This is why we need consecrated hearts.

HAVE IT ALREADY MARK 11:20-24 DEVOTIONAL: “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Vs.24).      Faith is accepting the word of God without an iota of doubt and taking action based on this conviction. From today’s Scripture, we see a prayer principle that Jesus taught us which we must take very seriously. Often times, when we pray, we do not know when the devil helps to terminate the process of our receiving answers to our prayers. He does this by introducing confusing words of doubt into our hearts as we pray.

THE PRAYER OF FAITH MATTHEW 21:18-22 DEVOTIONAL: “So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done” (Vs.21).      The prayer of a child of God is powerful when it is prayed in faith.  In our Scripture for today, we are taught what it will take to make our prayers powerful. Our prayers can only be powerful when they are said in faith. This is why the devil always wants to intimidate us by planting the seed of doubt in us to weaken our prayers. 

IN HIS NAME PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11 DEVOTIONAL: “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth” (Vs.10)      Jesus said that whatever we ask in His name shall be given to us (John 14: 13-14, John 16:23). Why do we need to use His name in our prayers? We need to use it because everything has a name and an answer to it. The Bible tells us that the name of Jesus is the name that commands answers in the realm of the Spirit.

SPEAKING HIS WORDS EPHESIANS 6:14-20 DEVOTIONAL: “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Vs.17)      It is important for us to know that there is a need for the release of authority through our requests in prayer. It is this authority that guarantees the angels of God executing our decrees (Matt. 16:19). This authority is given to us in the word of God and this is the strength of our prayers (Matt. 7:7, Luke 10:19).

BUILD THE ALTAR 1 KINGS 18:32-40 DEVOTIONAL: “And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, "Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood." (Vs. 33).      Anyone who wants to relate with God for effective prayer must build an altar of prayer. This altar is built in the heart. In the Old Testament, it was usually built in particular places where God’s presence dwelt and was called the temple of God. However, in the New Testament, the Bible says that we are the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16). If we are the temple of God, then the altar is in our hearts.

HIS WILL 1 JOHN 5:14-17 DEVOTIONAL: -“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (Vs.14)   Having looked at some causes of unanswered prayers in the kingdom of God, a major solution is that, we must pray according to the will of God. Praying contrary to the will of God is asking God to break His rules so as to answer our prayers. The Bible says that God honours His words more than His names (Psalm 138:2). So, please don’t ask God for something contrary to His will for you because He will not answer.

BITTERNESS HEBREWS 12:12-17 DEVOTIONAL:-“Looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled” (Vs. 15)      Bitterness is an evidence of unforgiving heart. When we don’t forgive, we nurture hatred in our hearts against our fellow brothers or sisters. You know that the devil always wants to make us bitter, so that we don’t manifest love as the Bible commands us (Luke 10:27). This is why we must not heed the advice of the devil as children of God.

WRONG FASTING MATTHEW 6:16-18 DEVOTIONAL:-“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward” (Vs. 16)      As good as fasting is in prayers, if it is not done with knowledge, then it can hinder prayers. One of the principles that make God to answer prayers is fasting, yet we need to do it with understanding. Fasting can be a hindrance to our prayers, when it makes us uncomfortable with God.

UNFORGIVING MATT. 6:5-15 DEVOTIONAL: -“But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Vs. 15)    Whenever we can’t forgive our fellow brethren, we sin against God. It is very important for us to know that sin hinders our access to the answers of our prayers from the Lord (Psalms 66:18). An unforgiving spirit disallows the liberty of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. It also prevent God from perfecting His work in our lives.

IMPATIENCE HEBREWS 4:8-13     DEVOTIONAL:-“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”. (Vs. 12)      One major thing which many people are not careful about that can hinder their prayers is impatience. It is natural for a person to be impatient because of our human inability to manage our temperamental weaknesses. This is why we need to have quality understanding of the ways of the kingdom of God.

RELATIONSHIP MATURITY           1 PETER 3:7-12 DEVOTIONAL:-“Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered”.  (Vs. 7)   One other factor that we have to be careful about is our relationships. Our relationships are meant to make our lives better (Eccl. 4:9-12). Our relationships are expected to help our lives because they are suppose to give us good companionship that will take us out of loneliness. 

ASKING AMISS JAMES 4:1-6 DEVOTIONAL:-“You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures” (Vs. 3).      One of the reasons some believers ask and not receive is that they ask amiss. To ask amiss is to ask with a wrong or negative motive. Our intention cannot be hidden from the Lord. Though, we are human, God remains God. The flesh in us sometimes want to have worldly pleasures and it is not wrong. It is only wrong when it is contrary to the purpose of God because it becomes a sin afterwards.

DOUBT JAMES 1:5-8  “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind” (Vs. 6)    To be doubtful is to be double-minded about God. To have a double mind is to believe God 50/50 and not totally. This is trying to plant something else in one's mind while pretending to trust in God.  Doubt is a product of fear and it is the opposite of faith (2 Tim. 1:6). Without faith, no man will be able to receive from God (Hebrews 11:6). We are usually in fear because we do not know God and His word. It is our contact with the word of God that builds faith in us (Rom. 10:17).

INIQUITY PSALMS 66:10-20 DEVOTIONAL VERSE: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear”. (Vs. 18)      In the kingdom of God, all promises are kept. This is because God is a faithful God (Hebrews 10:23). He has the capacity to fulfill and carry out His promises. So, whenever our prayers are not answered, we can then be sure that it is not God’s fault but ours. The lapses always come from us.

A CLEAN HEART      PSALMS 24:1-6 DEVOTIONAL VERSE: “He who has clean hands and a pure heart,Who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false” (Vs. 4)      God who is the King of this kingdom has covenanted in His word to always answer the prayers of the citizens (Matt. 7:7) Prayer is basically the only way for man to commune with God and receive from Him (Jeremiah 33:3). It could be quite frustrating when we pray and do not receive any answer. One of the factors responsible for unanswered prayers is the state of our hearts.

  RELEASING THE ANGELS MATTHEW 8:5-13 DEVOTIONAL: “For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." (V. 9)    The Bible tells us that angels are ministering spirits for those who have inherited salvation (Hebrews 1:14). They excel in strength and carry out God’s words (Psalms 103:20). This therefore, makes us to know that the ministry of the angels of God is to carry out His counsel.

CASTING YOUR CARES 1 PETER 5:5-11 DEVOTIONAL: “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (Vs. 7).      In this world, people have problems; one burden or the other, a challenge or the other or one need or the other. Despite all these problems, you must not allow yourself to be weighed down. If you do, making progress will become very difficult. That is why God has given us the platform of prayers.

ASKING AND RECEIVING LUKE 11:5-13 DEVOTIONAL: “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Vs. 10)      Prayer is about asking and receiving. To many people, prayer is asking and asking. This mindset of prayer being only about asking should be erased because prayer entails asking and receiving. Sometimes, some believers say that they have been asking God for something in the past one year and are still believing Him for answers. This is totally a wrong mindset. When I pray, I expect an answer, so it comes always and almost instantly. If I stay long in prayers, I just want to hang around God. 

  FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD LUKE 5: 12-16 DEVOTIONAL: “So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed” (Vs. 16).      Every citizen of the kingdom of God knows that prayer is not only to ask, but to fellowship with God. Fellowshipping with God means hanging around or staying with Him to rub minds with Him. It also means, to have feelings of relationship or connection with God. Abraham use to have fellowship with God. That was why he was called God’s friend (Isa. 41:8). If you want to enjoy quality fellowship with God where minds and thoughts will be freely shared, then you must not be need-oriented. Rather, you must be love and fellowship-oriented. 

PRAYER IS RELATIONSHIP LUKE 11: 1-4  DEVOTIONAL: “So He said to them, "When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven” (Vs. 2).      If any child of God will enjoy answers to his or her prayers, he/she must first understand that prayer is a relationship with God. As we all want to ask God for our needs, He also wants to answer us but, we must understand His need and meet it for Him to meet our needs. God wants a relationship with you (John 4:23). Prayer is first relationship, before it becomes an opportunity to share.